Before the Monon Trail - Fairtrain '83

 

In 1983, when the tracks were still in service, Indiana Transportation Museum, at Noblesville, operated trains between Carmel and the State Fair Grounds during the Indiana State Fair over the route that is now Indy Greenways' Monon Trail. The train had an F7A Diesel locomotive on each end so that it could travel in either direction without turning around or backing up. I liked the paint job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a beauty.  It's too bad that so many of these new trail systems are coming at the expense of rail ROW.

Nice!

I get your point, Randy, but I don't think your comment came out right.

 

I'd like to see trains running on all these former rights-of-way instead of bikes, strollers, families with their dogs, etc., too, but it's not as if communities evicted the railroads and ripped up the tracks to make way for trails.

 

The lines already had been abandoned as the declining manufacturing base no longer generated enough freight traffic to justify the cost of maintaining the lines, and the passengers, whose fares were often underwritten with freight revenues anyway, especially on a lot of the regional railroads, bought automobiles to drive on the growing network of tax-supported improved highways.

 

The rails-to-trails movement has preserved many former rail corridors against development or road-building that would certainly have encroached upon them, and has preserved many miles intact that can be returned to railroad use as escalating fuel prices force more freight from trucks back to trains. Quite a few trails have been built under guidelines that refer to rail-banking, or reserving abandoned rail routes for future return to rail service.

 

The alternative would have been to turn over the land to abutting homeowners, farmers and commercial interests; that has happened in many cases, as in the 110-mile former Erie-Lackawanna route across Indiana from the Ohio Line to Hammond.

Rob, are those locomotives and cars being taken care of? Like in a museum or something like that?

That train sure is a beauty..

Nice pictures, Rob.  I took the Fair Train to the Indiana State Fair a couple of years ago (and it beat out the deep-fried Twinkies as the highlight of the fair).  IIRC, I think it left from Fishers.  I probably could find a map, but what tracks do they use now and are those in danger of being converted to trails?

I would just like to see some more long-term vision used when these are under discussion for being converted to trails.  While some are certainly legit cases, others are not...and even if those rails are no longer in use it might be a good idea to hold on to that rail ROW.

Great pics!

 

I was really impressed with the Indiana State Fair, especially the Fairgrounds in contrast to Ohio. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there is a fairtrain to boot.

I would just like to see some more long-term vision used when these are under discussion for being converted to trails.  While some are certainly legit cases, others are not...and even if those rails are no longer in use it might be a good idea to hold on to that rail ROW.

 

Randy, I think that trails may be the best option we have under current law for preserving the rights-of-way. Railroads abandon uneconomical lines largely because if they keep them out of service but still hold onto them, they have to pay property tax. When they don't need them any more, they often try to sell them, and failing a buyer they may walk away and stop paying the taxes; Penn Central left a bunch of counties stuck for property taxes that way in the sixties and early seventies. Probably in that circumstance the county can offer the property at a tax sale, and who knows what will happen to it then. If it gets turned into a trail, at least its locked down and out of reach of private developers or abutting land owners who might otherwise encroach upon it and then claim squatters' rights if someone wants to restore the rail line.

 

The rails, themselves, have value, too. If they're in good condition, the railroad can remove them for use elsewhere in maintenance work, and if they're worn out, they still bring good money as scrap metal.

 

Rob, are those locomotives and cars being taken care of?  Like in a museum or something like that?

That train sure is a beauty..

 

Jeff, that equipment belongs to Indiana Transportation Museum, at Noblesville (Hamilton County, rapidly becoming North Suburban Indianapolis). They keep their stuff and display it at Forest Park in Noblesville, where they have a piece of track with catenary where they can run some of their interurban cars back and forth. They have a pretty good shop facility and skilled professionals to do restoration and maintenance.

 

Nice pictures, Rob.  I took the Fair Train to the Indiana State Fair a couple of years ago (and it beat out the deep-fried Twinkies as the highlight of the fair).  IIRC, I think it left from Fishers.  I probably could find a map, but what tracks do they use now and are those in danger of being converted to trails?

 

Mark, the route you rode is the one that is still in use. I'm not sure of the heritage of those tracks, but they're the ones that Indiana Transportation Museum uses to run occasional excursions between Noblesville and Indianapolis on summer weekends. That line has been discussed as a possible route for commuter rail between Hamilton County with its burgeoning population, and downtown Indianapolis. I don't think it will  go away any time soon. It was probably that line that made the Monon routing redundant for freight service. By the way, the Monon Trail is a gorgeous bike ride, first class in every respect and very heavily used.

 

Great pics!

 

I was really impressed with the Indiana State Fair, especially the Fairgrounds in contrast to Ohio. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there is a fairtrain to boot.

 

There was an Ohio State Fair train for a while in the early nineties. I think it may have been part of the now-defunct Norfolk Southern Steam Program; I'm pretty sure they ran with N&W 611, the big Norfolk Southern streamlined steam locomotive that is now on display at Roanoke, VA. Whereas the Indianapolis Fairtrain is a shuttle that scoots back and forth many times a day, the Ohio one consisted of all-day trips from some more distant point, to the state fair in the morning and return in the evening.

 

I just uploaded a bunch more train photos to my web site, including some funky stuff: